hello out there

so does anyone in gva use this any more? - Laura

recent work

I've put a lot of new work on flickr recently, http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankfoto/sets/72157627225886772/

I'm going to have a show at the Ithaca Visitors Center in November! Time to start printing! And, I will have a picture in a mixed show at Moving Box Studios in the CSMA Building in October!

TWO ART EXHIBITS on the Ithaca Commons - May 2011

GVA Spring/Summer Exhibits

Mansour Jewelers - May 2011

Waffle Frolic - May and June 2011

 

New work - website updated!

Finally sat myself down and did a long overdue update of my yolasite over the past few days. I had accumulated too many photos that begged for processing, but there was always something else more pressing to attend to. No more! Being tired of the embarrassment of making endless inane excuses, I worked from morning till late into the night for several days and got the main part of the update behind me.

Of course there is much more to do - I still want to add some of the watercolor pages from my Book of Water to the painting section and do a proper photo of the male nude, but that will be another large project and of course there still is my long neglected blog. Ok, one step at a time - for now I am just so happy to have gotten this far! Go click on the headline of this post and take a look...

amazing local artist, CLICK HERE TO SEE

I met Nick Wednesday Evening at the Castaways Pants Party Art Bazaar! He is so talented, there are no words to express it! I am hoping to convince him to join us. The Art bazaar was a cataclysmic success. They will do it every month. Join us next time, it's free!

Iridescen Feather Hanging on the Wind

Scribbler is fuzzy

Yikes - seems to me I did better when I first found the scribbler years ago, did they change it? Probably me only...

Snowy Drive

An Attempt to load a Scribbler Scribble

!http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/scribblertoo/!

Interesting links for GVA Photographers

Feeling guilty about my lack of participation recently, yet having nothing too creative to share yet I thought to share some interesting links I found recently. The first is a young photographer from Iowa whose website I found last night and whose photography has kept me up till all hours. He is a storm chaser, so he has some awesome lightning and super cell photos on his site you might want to check out, but he also is into bird photography and he really likes to shoot at night. So there are very beautiful photos of places like the Badlands in South Dakota or Yellowstone Park. Very inspiring and despite his obvious talent this young man says he does not know what to do with his life yet - seems he is doing just fine with what he is doing presently!

http://extremeinstability.com/imagesbyyear.htm

Next comes a couple of links to a useful free application which allows photographers to calculate when the best time is to get those wonderful sunrise and sunset pics. It gives you this information for any location in the world plus it also informs you of the extended period beyond sunrise and sunset where you can see the stars as well. There is also an app for cellphone available, but this one will cost you about 9 bucks.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/it%E2%80%99s-all-about-the-light-the-photographer%E2%80%99s-ephemeris

http://photoephemeris.com/

First link is to a short article about this program and then follows the link for the download. Btw, the first link is pretty cool to check out for those of you who would like to learn more about digital photography. You can sign up for free and then you will receive weekly newsletter with all kinds of information about different techniques as well as challenges using these techniques which you can publish on their forum for exposure, inspiration and constructive criticism.

While I was writing this it occurred to me that I have not been entirely without any artistic output and while here I may as well share it. It is a little exercise in digital art using several photographs Photoshop Elements and Gimp. Hope you like it!

Double Rainbow at Water Show Opening!

At precisely 5pm Friday November 5th, the view across the street from The Green Valley Artists Water Show at the FUSIT Gallery revealed a double rainbow! How appropriate for the exhibits theme! And symbolic of how dark storm rains pass, to welcome the return of the light with such intense beauty. It was the second double rainbow of the year for me, the last being sighted late summer.

Happy Halloween!

my kawaii hello kitty pumpkin

I was recalling the peak trick 'er treating of my late youth. It was fifth grade when my Dad took my little sister around, and I was freed at last to roam around with my buddy unattended. We eschewed the plastic pumpkin for a pillow case and set out to gather the sugar coated booty. In typical male fashion of quantity and accomplishment, we covered our own neighborhood in no time, then set off for the adjacent subdivision, a place where technically we weren't even allowed to ride bikes. The mischievous spirit of the evening possessed us. I returned dragging a heavy bag like a miniature santa, not a goblin. My parents were at first astonished, then admonished us for venturing so far afield. My sister and I munched that candy hoard until Christmas!

By junior high, we had relocated to a tiny rural village in upstate New York. Being a little Dungeons and Dragons geek, I reveled in the ability to dress up on this one night and not be considered a freak. Still, we had begun pushing the limits as people would comment as we departed their porches, "Wow, their getting bigger every year." Sometimes even directly confronting us, "Aren't you guys getting a little old?" as if this holiday was merely a cutesy toddler parade on their porch put on for their benefit. Trick 'er treating maximization had been raised to an art form. We carried a back up mask in our bags for changing up the look to hit houses again on the return trip that actually generously gave away full sized candy bars or some other rare confection, instead of the usual sweet tarts or milk duds.

It was my last trick 'er treating year ever, so we slogged it out in bitter cold and sleet. There was hardly anyone out at all. On the outskirts of the village was a large farmhouse. The front porch light was off, but a side porch was lit, so we investigated. An old woman came to the door and invited us in. My friend and I looked at each other, shrugged and went inside. A lifetime of "don't talk to strangers" made me enter with trepidation. But this was obviously a long lost grandmother that I never had. Inside it was a warm and hospitable kitchen, and we were treated to hot apple cider, and fresh homemade doughnuts. It was the most decadent treat I ever had! I didn't even know that you could make doughnuts at home. We munched our doughnut and warmed our wet cold fingers around the mug, waiting for it to cool enough to drink. The kind old lady was delighted to have company and provide us with hospitality and we chatted up about the nights inclement weather. By the time we finished, there was a knock on the door, we said our adieu as she welcomed in a clutch of tiny kinder and their mom. That was the last time I ever trick 'er treated and a perfect way to retire that childhood tradition.

From the book 365 Goddess by Patricia Telecso:
"Samhain is a time to rectify any matters causing dissent. Take a piece of white paper on which you've written the reason for anger in a relationship, then burn it in any hallowed fire source (the pumpkin candle, etc) As you do so ask Nicneven to destroy the negativity completely."

This is also an opportunity to work with Raven energy. Raven is about finding light in the darkness, and transforming dark into light. Its a chance to create some real magick and transform negative into positive.

Fall Commissions - Finals

Completed these a couple weeks ago and delivered them. The client was happy, and she recently surprised/presented them to her friends. I have yet to hear about their reactions, hopefully good ones.











I'm kicking into high gear before December rolls around...
I've got a lot of things on my list, and more things to share =)

Alone Again Naturally

This image was captured on an Evening GVA Photo Safari!

More experiments with freeware! These are attempts #1 and 2 on a program called Dogwaffle. This program is a bit more complicated than Smoothdraw - but you can see it has potential! The bird is a bit skeletal but I got tired of messing with it so it is what it is and I am not sure about how to get the fractals right.

Give this program a try if you like, it has all kinds of fractal doodads and the brushes are something else - I think this one is a keeper for more painterly pursuits (once I figure out how to use it that is), Smoothdraw will be for posters and graphics. Here is the link for Dogwaffle:

http://thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/

Take a look at the video, I used it as a starting point. And did I mention this program is also free? Of course I did!

Amazing curtain on an amazing day of nature!

I took several hundred photo's on this day. I wish I could post and print them all!

Friday, November 5th - Artist Reception, 5-8pm

WATER

14 local artists share their views regarding this life-sustaining natural resource

Artist Reception and Happy Hour:
Friday, November 5, 2010
5–8 p.m.
Complimentary wine and snacks! 

 Live music by 6 yr old violinist, Zoe 

RSVP to our Facebook event

First Unitarian Society of Ithaca
306 North Aurora Street (corner of Aurora and Buffalo Streets)

Show can be viewed October 15 - December 2

M-F 10am-4pm and weekends during and after services

Following up...

This has been such a great get together at Judi's this afternoon, I can't really call it a meeting. I just want to say I am really happy to be a part of this great group! Not only do we have our creative pursuits in common, but there is so much more to be enjoyed. You all bring so much to the table!!! Thank you for being you!

Anyway, I just had to share what I am feeling...

Back to what I started to say in my last post and didn't have a chance because we were already late. These little doodles I posted before were done with a little software I got for free online some time ago but never used till the other day when I sent it to Judi to play with and I remembered that I had it. So this morning with a little time to spare I started playing with it and I had so much fun I thought maybe some of you might want to do so as well. So here is the url

http://download.cnet.com/SmoothDraw/3000-2192_4-10199284.html

It is freeware, you can just download it. It is really simple to use, so have fun!

Sorry for the way I posted the link, you will have to copy and paste it into your browser, because I could not figure out how to link it directly.